Kyrgyzstan's Union of Tour Operators says some 200 foreign mountaineers have been stuck in the country's Tian Shan Mountains after the Defense Ministry halted rescue operations because of harsh weather.

The union said the rescue attempts were called off after a Defense Ministry rescue helicopter crashed due to heavy winds while carrying a rescue team and a Russian climber.

Everyone survived the crash.

The Defense Ministry's General Staff declined to comment on the union's statement.

A Ukrainian mountaineer died of a heart attack while trying to climb Lenin's Peak on July 22.

Last week, a Russian climber was rescued at the same place after he suffered a nonlethal stroke.

Another mountaineer, reportedly from Moldova, has been missing since July 22.

Kyrgyzstan's vast array of mountains are full of climbers in the summer months.